Devotionals

Our estimation of Jesus should be no less than Jesus’ own estimation of Himself. Jesus presented Himself not merely as a great teacher or worker of miracles, though He was each of those. Instead, He revealed Himself to be God, ...Read More

Certainly there was a real young man who actually fled the arrest of Jesus, leaving his clothes behind. That he was a real historical person, however, does not take away from the fact that we can see in him a ...Read More

Isaiah 53:12 prophesies that the Messiah would be “numbered with the transgressors,” treated as if He were a sinner even though He would have no sin of His own. This numbering began when Jesus was arrested as if He were ...Read More

Matthew Henry comments on today’s passage: “The consideration of the weakness and infirmity of our flesh should engage and quicken us to prayer and watchfulness.” Even when we find ourselves the most willing to do what is good, we must ...Read More

John Calvin comments on today’s passage, “Christ, amidst fear and sadness, was weak without any taint of sin.” Jesus asked for another way to save us, but He did not ask out of obstinate disobedience and a refusal to submit ...Read More

Because God glorifies all those whom He justifies (Rom. 8:28–30), we know that no person with true faith can be cut off finally from salvation. However, even the elect may fall into gross sin, even denying Jesus as Peter did. ...Read More

Christ has not instituted His sacraments for perfect people but for men and women who are sinners. But those who come to the table must be repentant sinners who do not take the sacrament lightly. Let us examine ourselves before ...Read More

When we come to the Lord’s Table, the human nature of Christ is not in the room with us but is in heaven. However, because Christ is spiritually present, we nevertheless also commune with His humanity. We are lifted up ...Read More

As we will see, understanding the Lord’s Supper rightly demands a correct understanding of Christology. Indeed, we cannot rightly understand any doctrine unless we rightly understand the doctrine of Christ. Let us be careful in our study of theology to ...Read More

For many reasons, transubstantiation has been rejected by Protestants as a biblical way of conceiving of Christ’s presence in the Lord’s Supper. However, that does not mean we deny Christ’s presence in the supper. Following John Calvin, we affirm the ...Read More